New data reveals the soaring cost of being a landlord in the UK

The study shows that landlords in Edinburgh are spending the most on maintenance at £2,952 per year, with Newcastle (£1,632) and Glasgow (£1,622) coming in second and third.

Aside from expected wear and tear, costs for repairing damage have increased by 121% for UK landlords, rising from £473 in 2022, to £1043 in 2024.

According to the data, theft damage is the most expensive cause of damage to rental properties and landlords spend on average £1,128 a year fixing post break-in related repairs.

Southampton is reported as the worst affected city by theft damage, with landlords spending £1,875.50 a year on repairs, followed by Leeds (£1,477) and Liverpool (£1,445.82).

Theft aside, fire damage and damage caused to properties from heatwaves come in at second and third for the most expensive issues for landlords to fix in the UK.

Data further reveals the most expensive rental property repairs, with roof damage, broken windows and mould all featuring in the top 10.

Over half of UK landlords (59.80%) have had a dispute with a tenant over who is responsible for property repairs or replacements, this is a noticeable rise from 2022 where 48.5% were in dispute.

Landlords are usually responsible for handling any repairs, meaning that the majority of costs also fall on the landlord, as a consequence for those without landlord insurance it can be a costly expense.

Katie Delamain-Blunt, Head of Marketing at Towergate Direct, outlines: “There is currently no legal requirement to obtain landlord insurance, however, it is a great way to avoid financial risk in the future and can give landlords piece of mind.

“Landlord insurance can protect landlords as the property owner from financial issues connected to the rental, such as theft, fire or weather damage and can extend to include cover for things like loss of rent.”

The data shows there are 3.8% of landlords without insurance, equating to potentially 107,160 landlords facing heft costs if something was to go wrong in their property and a further 4% who don’t plan on getting landlord insurance.